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Here’s a scenario. It’s a blistering afternoon, and one of your most critical EV fast chargers – the one right off the I-95 corridor – just went dark. Your dashboard lights up red. The site host is calling you every ten minutes. Eventually, you manage to dispatch a technician.
He drives two hours through traffic, opens the cabinet, checks a few readings with a multimeter … and then sighs.
He doesn’t have the specific $40 communication board needed to complete the repair. So he packs up, drives away, and the charger stays down.
You’ve just paid for a second truck roll.
In maintenance terms, a truck roll simply means sending a technician to a site. A second truck roll means the first visit failed to resolve the issue. It sounds minor – just a little extra driving.
In reality, second truck rolls are one of the quietest, most destructive cost leaks in modern energy infrastructure. They drain margins, stretch downtime, and slowly wear down both teams and customers. Let’s break down why.
A second truck roll doesn’t just add cost – it multiplies inefficiency. You’re paying twice for:
… while also losing time that could have been spent on new, revenue-generating or risk-reducing work.
Operating a service vehicle is not cheap anymore. The average marginal cost of running a truck has climbed to about $2.27 per mile, driven largely by labor, fuel, maintenance, and insurance. Sending the same truck to the same site twice is like lighting money on fire – slowly, but very consistently.
This is where the real damage happens. While a technician is re-driving a route they’ve already driven, they are not:
Every unnecessary return visit blocks progress elsewhere.
Most field service organizations only break even when technicians are actively working (this is called utilization rate). Long drive times, repeat visits, and unplanned returns crush that number. Even a small drop in utilization can turn a profitable operation into a loss.
If you track only one KPI, make it First-Time Fix Rate (FTFR). FTFR measures the percentage of service calls resolved on the first visit. It directly affects:
Miss the first fix, and costs snowball.
Unplanned downtime isn’t just inconvenient – it’s financially brutal. A staggering 83% of industry leaders report that unplanned downtime costs at least $10,000 per hour, with some estimates reaching $500,000 per hour.
In high-stakes industrial environments, downtime can cost up to $1.7 million per hour. So when a second truck roll delays a repair by a day, the loss isn’t measured in hundreds – it can reach catastrophic levels.
Second truck rolls don’t happen because technicians are careless. They happen because of systemic gaps.
A work order that says “charger broken” is useless. Without:
… the technician is guessing.
High-voltage equipment requires certified technicians. Dispatching someone without the right qualifications guarantees a second visit.
This is the most common culprit. If dispatch doesn’t know exactly what’s in each van – down to the bin level – technicians will keep arriving without the right parts.
No part = no fix = second truck roll.
Second truck rolls aren’t just an operational problem. They’re a compliance and sustainability risk.
Under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Program, federally funded chargers must maintain 97% annual uptime. If a second truck roll delays repair by days, uptime drops – and funding risk rises.
Every unnecessary mile driven produces unnecessary emissions. As ESG reporting becomes stricter, poor dispatching and repeat visits are no longer just inefficient – they’re an environmental liability.
Most modern operations know when something breaks. What they struggle with is closing the loop:
That gap is where second truck rolls are born.
Systems that treat monitoring, dispatch, inventory and execution as separate worlds almost guarantee repeat visits.
This is where execution systems matter. Software like FieldEx is designed to reduce second truck rolls by addressing the three root causes directly:
The goal isn’t more dashboards. It’s fewer return visits.
A truck roll is a physical act of resilience. Every time a technician turns the key, the goal should be simple: one visit, one fix.
Scaling green infrastructure isn’t about hiring more technicians. It’s about giving the technicians you already have the information, parts, and support they need to succeed the first time.
Stop paying for the same repair twice.
Want to see how FieldEx helps reduce second truck rolls? Book a free demo today, or simply get in touch. Let’s chat.
Most estimates range from $300 to $1,000 per roll, once labor, fuel, insurance, and overhead are included. (Source: Smarty)
FTFR measures the percentage of service calls resolved on the first visit. Top-performing teams aim for 90% or higher.
Because delays from repeat visits increase downtime, pushing assets below required availability thresholds.
By unifying dispatch, inventory, certifications, and workflows so technicians arrive prepared and fixes stick the first time.
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